Blood Pressure Reference Values on Height for 6-12 Years Old Children in Shiraz/Iran

Abstract: Introduction: Blood pressure (BP) in children could be effected by a lot of factors such as environmental, cultural, social and genetic factors. Therefore it is dynamic and varies from each society or era to another. This study was conducted to compare BP of Iranian children with the American standard and for the first time BP smoothed centiles on height in 6-12 elementary school children were determined. Method: Height, systolic and diastolic BP were measured with standard methods in 2494 elementary school children selected by multi stage sampling. BP percentiles on height percentiles were determined and compared with National High Blood Pressure Education Program (NHBPEP) results by using its suggested regression equation. Meanwhile BP smoothed centiles on height were drawn by Healy-Rasbash-Yang (HRY) method. Findings: The results of this study showed that BP levels in Shiraz children are lower than American standard and BP in children was not related to age by controlling of height. Conclusion: It is suggested that in each society local standards are used and in order to have more accurate diagnosis of hypertensive cases it would be better to calculate BP centiles on height instead of age. Keywords: Blood pressure, Height, Age, Children, Shira

Secular Trends In Growth Among School Children Of Shiraz (Southern Iran) Born In The Post-War Period

Background: Secular trends in stature, weight and mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) of 2397 school children (1268 boys and 1129 girls) of the same age (6.5-11.5 years) and sex in representative samples from primary schools of Shiraz (southern Iran) at an interval of 15 years (1988 vs 2003) are reported. Methods: Cross-sectional weight, height and mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) curves were created for both sexes. One sample t-tests were utilized to analyze differences between average height, weight and MUAC of the 1988 and 2003 samples (the values of the previous study treated as constant). Results: Both samples included children of various socio-economic backgrounds for both males and females of each age-class. There are significant positive secular trends in stature, weight and MUAC of children born in the post-war period sampled in 2003. These children are generally taller, heavier, and larger than their peers of 15 years earlier born pre- and during the imposed war period of Iraq against Iran. The 2003 sample shows less growth deficits in relation to the CDC reference data. Conclusion: The positive trend can be explained as the result of economic development and improvement of social and health indicators in Iran in the post-war period